Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and throughout western Canada, before moving on to the nightclubs of Toronto, Ontario. She moved to the United States and began touring in 1965. Some of her original songs ("Urge for Going", "Chelsea Morning", "Both Sides, Now", "The Circle Game") were recorded by other folk singers, allowing her to sign with Reprise Records and record her debut album, Song to a Seagull, in 1968. Settling in Southern California, Mitchell helped define an era and a generation with popular songs like "Big Yellow Taxi" and "Woodstock". Her 1971 album Blue is often cited as one of the best albums of all time; it was rated the 30th best album ever made in Rolling Stone's 2003 list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", rising to number 3 in the 2020 edition. In 2000, The New York Times chose Blue as one of the 25 albums that represented "turning points and pinnacles in 20th-century popular music". NPR ranked Blue number 1 on a 2017 list of Greatest Albums Made by Women.
Mitchell switched labels and began exploring more jazz-influenced melodic ideas, by way of lush pop textures, on 1974's Court and Spark, which featured the radio hits "Help Me" and "Free Man in Paris" and became her best-selling album. Mitchell's vocal range began to shift from mezzo-soprano to more of a wide-ranging contralto around 1975. Her distinctive piano and open-tuned guitar compositions also grew more harmonically and rhythmically complex as she melded jazz with rock and roll, R&B, classical music and non-Western beats. In the late 1970s, she began working with noted jazz musicians including Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, and Pat Metheny as well as Charles Mingus, who asked her to collaborate on his final recordings. She later turned to pop and electronic music and engaged in political protest. She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 44th Annual Grammy Awards in 2002 and became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2021.
Mitchell produced or co-produced most of her albums. A critic of the music industry, she quit touring and released her 17th and last album of original songs in 2007. Mitchell has designed most of her own album covers, describing herself as a "painter derailed by circumstance".
Coyote
Joni Mitchell Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
We just come from such different sets of circumstance
I'm up all night in the studios
And you're up early on your ranch
You'll be brushing out a brood mare's tail
While the sun is ascending
And I'll just be getting home with my reel to reel
There's no comprehending
And the lips you can get
And still feel so alone
And still feel related
Like stations in some relay
You're not a hit and run driver, no, no
Racing away
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
We saw a farmhouse burning down
In the middle of nowhere
In the middle of the night
And we rolled right past that tragedy
'Til we turned down to some road house lights
Where a local band was playing
Locals were up kicking and shaking on the floor
And the next thing I know
That coyote's at my door
He pins me in a corner and he won't take no
He drags me out on the dance floor
And we're dancing close and slow
Now he's got a woman at home
He's got another woman down the hall
He seems to want me anyway
Why'd you have to get so drunk
And lead me on that way
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
I looked a coyote right in the face
On the road to Baljennie, near my old home town
He went running thru the whisker wheat
Chasing some prize down
And a hawk was playing with him
Coyote was jumping straight up and making passes
He had those same eyes just like yours
Under your dark glasses
Privately probing the public rooms
And peeking through keyholes in numbered doors
Where the players lick their wounds
And take their temporary lovers
And their pills and powders
To get them through this passion play
No regrets, coyote
I just get off up aways
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
Coyote's in the coffee shop
He's staring a hole in his scrambled eggs
He picks up my scent on his fingers
While he's watching the waitresses' legs
He's too far from the Bay of Fundy
From appaloosas and eagles and tides
And the air conditioned cubicles
And the carbon ribbon rides
Are spelling it out so clear
Either he's going to have to stand and fight
Or take off out of here
I tried to run away myself
To run away and wrestle with my ego
With this, this flame
You put here in this Eskimo
In this hitcher
In this prisoner
Of the fine white lines
Of the white lines on the free, freeway
The lyrics of Joni Mitchell's "Coyote" are brimming with contrast, between the two lifestyles she and the coyote, a man she meets at a bar, lead. Coyote is a rancher and Joni is a musician, and they meet one night at a roadside bar after Joni drives past a burning farmhouse. They dance, and coyote becomes enamored with Joni, despite having two women in his life already. The song unfolds with Joni comparing their lives and pointing out the similarities, that despite leading vastly different lives, they both are prisoners to their respective worlds. She likens them to stations in a relay, where they are not acquainted but have to keep going towards their destinations.
The lyrics are a mix of poetic metaphors and stark realism. Mitchell talks about the pain of feeling alone despite being in the company of someone else. Despite coyote showing interest in her, she still feels alone, and it's hard to comprehend how close one person can get to another while still feeling lonely. She punctuates her confusion with the repetition of the line, "you just picked up a hitcher, a prisoner of the white lines on the freeway," tying the song together with its concept of imprisonment. Overall, Joni's smooth voice delivers a sense of weary resignation in the face of circumstance, but the lyrics are poetic and intricate, capturing the complexity of the human spirit.
Line by Line Meaning
No regrets, coyote
I have no regrets, my dear coyote
We just come from such different sets of circumstance
We have had different life experiences
I'm up all night in the studios
I stay up all night working in the recording studios
And you're up early on your ranch
And you are up early on your ranch
You'll be brushing out a brood mare's tail
You will be grooming a female horse's tail
While the sun is ascending
While the sun is rising
And I'll just be getting home with my reel to reel
And I will just be arriving home with my audio recording equipment
There's no comprehending
It is hard to understand
Just how close to the bone and the skin and the eyes
How deeply one can connect with another
And the lips you can get
Even when there is physical intimacy
And still feel so alone
Someone can still feel lonely
And still feel related
Even when they share a connection
Like stations in some relay
Like stations in a relay race
You're not a hit and run driver, no, no
You are not someone who abandons someone after being intimate with them
Racing away
You are not racing away
You just picked up a hitcher
You just gave me a lift
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
Someone who spends a lot of time on the highways
We saw a farmhouse burning down
We saw a farmhouse on fire
In the middle of nowhere
In remote location
In the middle of the night
During the nighttime
And we rolled right past that tragedy
And we continued driving past it
'Til we turned down to some road house lights
Until we turned off onto a road with some lights
Where a local band was playing
Where a band from the area was playing
Locals were up kicking and shaking on the floor
Local people were dancing energetically
And the next thing I know
And then, unexpectedly
That coyote's at my door
That you came to my door
He pins me in a corner and he won't take no
You cornered me and wouldn't take no for an answer
He drags me out on the dance floor
You forcefully brought me out to dance
And we're dancing close and slow
And we are dancing intimately
Now he's got a woman at home
Now you have a woman at home
He's got another woman down the hall
You also have another woman living nearby
He seems to want me anyway
But you still appear to desire me
Why'd you have to get so drunk
Why did you have to drink so much alcohol?
And lead me on that way
And give me false hope, making me think you liked me
I looked a coyote right in the face
I came across a real coyote
On the road to Baljennie, near my old home town
On a road near my hometown of Baljennie
He went running thru the whisker wheat
It was running through the wheat fields
Chasing some prize down
Chasing after something important
And a hawk was playing with him
And a hawk was playing with the coyote
Coyote was jumping straight up and making passes
Coyote was leaping in the air and attempting to catch the hawk
He had those same eyes just like yours
The coyote had eyes that reminded me of your eyes
Under your dark glasses
Hidden behind your sunglasses
Privately probing the public rooms
Secretly looking into public spaces
And peeking through keyholes in numbered doors
And peering through the small holes in doors with numbers on them
Where the players lick their wounds
Where the performers are recovering from their emotional injuries
And take their temporary lovers
And finding and discarding their short term partners
And their pills and powders
Using recreational drugs and medication
To get them through this passion play
To help them cope with their messy lives
Coyote's in the coffee shop
You are now in a cafe
He's staring a hole in his scrambled eggs
You are staring blankly at your scrambled eggs
He picks up my scent on his fingers
You can pick up the scent of my perfume on your fingers
While he's watching the waitresses' legs
As you also stare at the waitresses' legs
He's too far from the Bay of Fundy
You are too far away from the Bay of Fundy, a place you love
From appaloosas and eagles and tides
From horses, eagles, and ocean tides
And the air conditioned cubicles
And from your air conditioned office
And the carbon ribbon rides
And from your commute to work
Are spelling it out so clear
Are making it very clear
Either he's going to have to stand and fight
You must decide whether to stay and confront me, or leave
Or take off out of here
Or to leave this place right now
I tried to run away myself
I once tried to run away from myself
To run away and wrestle with my ego
To escape my own inner turmoil and conflict
With this, this flame
With this, this passion
You put here in this Eskimo
That you ignited inside me, just like you ignited the warmth in an Eskimo's shelter
In this hitcher
In this person you gave a ride to
In this prisoner
In this captive to the road and their desires
Of the fine white lines
Of the white lines painted on the road
Of the white lines on the free, freeway
Of the white lines on the road, leading me down the path of freedom
Lyrics © Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Written by: Joni Mitchell
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@gregdahlen4375
No regrets Coyote
We just come from such different sets of circumstance
I'm up all night in the studios
And you're up early on your ranch
You'll be brushing out a brood mare's tail
While the sun is ascending
And I'll just be getting home with my reel to reel
There's no comprehending
Just how close to the bone and the skin and the eyes
And the lips you can get
And still feel so alone
And still feel related
Like stations in some relay
You're not a hit and run driver, no, no
Racing away
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
We saw a farmhouse burning down
In the middle of nowhere
In the middle of the night
And we rolled right past that tragedy
Till we turned into some road house lights
Where a local band was playing
Locals were up kicking and shaking on the floor
And the next thing I know
That Coyote's at my door
He pins me in a corner and he won't take "No!"
He drags me out on the dance floor
And we're dancing close and slow
Now he's got a woman at home
He's got another woman down the hall
He seems to want me anyway
Why'd you have to get so drunk
And lead me on that way
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines of the freeway
I looked a Coyote right in the face
On the road to Baljennie near my old home town
He went running through the whisker wheat
Chasing some prize down
And a hawk was playing with him
Coyote was jumping straight up and making passes
He had those same eyes - just like yours
Under your dark glasses
Privately probing the public rooms
And peeking through keyholes in numbered doors
Where the players lick their wounds
And take their temporary lovers
And their pills and powders to get them through this passion play
No regrets, Coyote
I just get off up aways
You just picked up a hitcher
A prisoner of the white lines on the freeway
Coyote's in the coffee shop
He's staring a hole in his scrambled eggs
He picks up my scent on his fingers
While he's watching the waitresses' legs
He's too far from the Bay of Fundy
From Appaloosas and Eagles and tides
And the air conditioned cubicles
And the carbon ribbon rides
Are spelling it out so clear
Either he's going to have to stand and fight
Or take off out of here
I tried to run away myself
To run away and wrestle with my ego
And with this flame
You put here in this Eskimo
In this hitcher
In this prisoner
Of the fine white lines
Of the white lines on the free, free way
@BeeNotDismayed
I remember hearing this album as a kid, and even then I knew Joni was in a class of few, of absolute GIANTS.
Now that I know her story, I am even more in awe of her.
She is the STORM
@thucy2
I was not much than a kid when I was raped while hitch hiking. Afterwards I played this song non stop as part of my healing. Maybe that makes no sense, but that song was a solace to me. And maybe that's not what this song is about at all--but--"he pins me in a corner and he won't take no....'why'd you have to lead me on that way.'.." Which is what he said, almost word for word when he started his assault.So whatever these lyrics mean for real, thank you Joni for this song, which will always mean something so deep and dark to me, and yet so affirming in ways I can't possibly explain. Amazing how music like this can cut so deep, and then offer a way to heal over that most deepest of wounds.
@huberdiensassen8232
very sorry for what happened to you Thucy2 . But i recognize the healing effect of this song and the whole album... I have experienced it also years ago......
@lisabartholomew105
I hope for your healing. Joni has healed me through so many injuries in my life. and I'm 65!
@danielcropp8553
Sorry that happened.
@fernandoguevara5227
You will definently be in my prayers as I need them as well.There are abuses that I need to heal from.
@johnnycoyo
Touch ed by your story ....sending Love & Healing <3
@kathrynswift5903
My absolute favourite Joni song, ever. Each lyric is like a master class on how to write. I could quote the whole song rather than a line here or there. Such brilliance.
@AjU-uz5ku
I agree with you it is like a literary essay itself. Impeccable and exquisite indeed so.
@davidhunter5848
Jaco’s beautiful, unique and tasteful playing makes this track. Those harmonics chime like a bell.